63: What is i18n? (with Eli Schutze)

A Question of Code

This week we're joined by internationalisation (i18n) expert Eli Schutze. Originally from Nicaragua, Eli is a London-based web engineer and speaker currently making money work for everyone at Monzo Bank. In this episode she clears up some common misconceptions around the issue of translating apps and websites. It turns out that doing i18n properly often runs counter to a lot of the principles developers are taught when they learn programming.

Why do we call it "i18n"? (Spoiler: because it's hard to say!) And why do developers need to do the hard work of i18n themselves? Why not just use automated tools? How does i18n work on a technical level, and what is likely to go horribly wrong when developers try to be too "smart"? Find out all this and more in this week's international instalment of A Question of Code.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Find Eli on Twitter @elibelly
• Monzo Bank
• Eli's recent conference talk about I18n: Internationalization is a Piece of Cake
• W3C Quick Tips for i18n on the Web
• W3C Internationalisation Resource List
• Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
• Pseudo-localization at Netflix